Stirrup-attaching device.



PATENTED MAY 12, 1908.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 11, 1907.

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ADOLPHUS MOLASH, OF KENNEBEC, SOUTH DAKOTA.

STIRBT IP-ATTAGHING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Application filed April 11, 1907. Serial No. 367,613.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ADoLPHUs MoLAsn, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kennebec, in the county of Lyman, State of South Dakota,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stirrup-AttachingDevices and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, andexact descrip tion of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention has reference to improvements in stirrup attachingdevices, and it aims to provide a highly efficient support for stirrupstraps, so constructed as to permit the immediate detachment of thestirrup from the saddle upon the fall of a rider from his horse.

A further object of the invention resides in the provision of a stirrupattaching device, as above described, which is exceedingly simple inconstruction and which may be manufactured at a very slight cost. Tothis end, the vention comprises a longitudinally slotted plate attachedon each side of a saddle, and a stra supporting member having a rearwarcly-extending tongue adapted to be passed therethrough, to detachablyconnect said plate and supporting member, the under face of the tonguebeing held against the upper face of the plate both by the normal strainu on the stirrup, when the rider is in the sadd e, and by the tensionexerted upon the supporting member by a spring which connects the latterwith the plate.

The invention will be readily understood from the following detaileddescription, and its preferred embodiment is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated bycorresponding reference numerals in the several views.

Of the said drawings-Figure 1 is a side elevation of the resentinvention showing the parts thereof in normal position. Fig. 2 is a toplan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmenta side elevation, partly insection showing the position of the tongue when the strap supportingmember is becoming detached from the carrying-plate. Fig. 4 is a viewsimilar to Fig. 1, but showing a modified tension device.

In its practical embodiment, the invention comprises a carrying plate 5attached to each side of a saddle and providedwith a longitudinal slot6, and a vertical strap-supporting member or runner 7 detaehably engagedtherewith.

Each runner is provided u on its upper edge with a rearwardly extent ingtongue 8, whose under face is disposed in spaced relation thereto. Therear edge of each runner slopes gradually outward from its upper end,thus forming upon the lower portion of each plate what may be regardedas a rearward extension, which is indicated by the reference numeral 9.Adjacent such extension, each runner is provided with a transverse slot10 for receiving the upper end of the stirrupstrap 11, the front end ofeach slot being disposed rearwardly of the front end of thecorresponding tongue, as shown in Fig. 1.

Each tongue, above referred to, is approximately L-shaped, its stem orlower arm being disposed intermediate the upper right and left handcorners 12 and 13 of the runner, which thus forms shoulders adapted tobear against the under face of the plate 5, as shown in Fig. 1, when therunner is engaged therewith, the shoulder 12 having its edges slightlyrounded.

When the device is in use, the normal strain upon the stirrup will,owing to the for mation of the strap slot 10 at therearwardly extendedlower end 9 of the runner, tilt the latter slightly forward, thuscausing the shoulder 13 and tongue 8 to bear against the opposite facesof the plate 5, and holding the runner and plate in engagement with eachother. It is preferable, moreover, to normally hold the parts in suchposition by the action of a tension device, to prevent disengagement ofthe runner before the rider has mounted into the saddle, or during suchoperation. To this end, either a leaf-spring 141 or a chain 15 may beemployed, the former being secured to the under face of the plate 5rearwardly of the runner, with its free end bearing against the slopingrear edge thereof, while the latter, when used, is attached at its upperend to the under face of the plate at the front end thereof, and is provided at its opposite end with a split springsteel ring 16, which isengaged in an opening 17 formed at the lower left hand corner of therunner, the chain being merely long enough to hold the runner in theposition above referred to.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that when the rider is thrownfrom his horse, his weight upon the stirrup will swing the runnerrearwardly upon the shoulder 12 as a pivot against the tension of thespring, thus Withdrawing the tongue from the slot 6, and detaching therunner completely from its carrying plate, as will be understood. Whenthe chain and ring construction is employed, the ring ends will beforced apart by the Weight of the rider, and the ring thus disengagedfrom the runner.

The tongue, may, if desired, be notched or curved at its forward end, topermit its ready engagement and disengagement with the plate slot.

Both the plate and runner are preferably formed of metal and may be madein any desired size, and springs of various strengths may be used, toregulate the tension exercised thereby upon the runner.

What is claimed, is-

1. Stirrup attaching devices comprising a plate for attachment to astirrup and having a slot, and a runner having an L-shaped tongue at itsupper edge to fit in said slot and bear on.the upper side of said plate,said runner having means at a point out of vertical alinement with saidslot and tongue to enable a stirrup strap to be attached to such runnerand cause the weight of such strap and the stirrup to normally maintainthe tongue of the runner in engagement with the said late. p 2. Stirrupattaching devices comprising a plate for attachment to a stirrup andhaving a slot, and a runner having an L-shaped tongue at its upper edgeto fit in said slot and bear on the upper side of said plate, saidrunner havingmeans at a point out of vertical alinement with said slotand tongue to enable astirrup strap to be attached to such runner andcause the weight of such strapand the stirrup to normally maintain thetongue of the runner in engagement with the said plate, and means toprevent casual detachment of such runner from such plate.

3. A device of the kind described comprising a longitudinally slottedplate, a runner detachably carried by said plate, said runner having arearwardly-extending lower end provided with a horizontal stirrup-strapslot, a rearwardly-extending L-shaped tongue formed upon the upper edgeof said runner and fitted in said slot, and yielding means for normallyholding the under face of said tongue against the upper face of saidplate, to prevent said tongue from being Withdrawn from said slot.

4. A device of the kind described comprising a longitudinally slottedplate, a runner detachably carried by said plate, said runner having arearwardly-extending lower end provided with a horizontal stirrup-strapslot, a rearwardly-extending L-shaped tongue formed upon the upper edgeof said runner intermediate the ends thereof and fittedin said slot, andmeans carried by said plate in yielding engagement with said runner, tonormally swing the latter forwardly, to hold the under face of saidtongue and the forward upper corner of said runner against oppositesides of said plate, to prevent said tongue from being withdrawn fromsaid slot.

In testimony whereof, I afliX my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

ADOLPHUS MOLASH.

Witnesses:

FRANK C. WEDERATH, WM. WILLIAMSON, Jr.

